Live It - And Find Out
by Wayfinder1314
Summary: Continuation of Raberba girl's Seventy-eight. Go read that one first. After an unexpected trip to the future, Isa is reeling from the knowledge of Saïx, and Lea is determined to make sure he gets his best friend back in the future. Lea's desperate wish to know how the future turns out is answered in an unexpected way, and he learns that the most important part of life is Hope.
**I read _Seventy-eight_ by Raberba girl, and then Sōzō-ryoku started adding to it. This is a SEQUEL to _Seventy-eight,_ you need to read it first, or you might be lost. **

**Minor Spoilers for the end of 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts II, and Dream Drop Distance. But honestly, we're close enough to III that there shouldn't be a lot of people who aren't that far...**

 **I got permission from Raberba girl to write this, but I don't own the _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

Lea stared up at the stars - he could sense Isa next to him, but neither of them said a word for a long time. Finally - "I'm not going to give up on you, Isa. Never."

"Maybe you should." The blue-haired boy sighed. "Saïx… he was… wasn't me. At all."

"Which is _why_ I'm not giving up. Because I believe that YOU are still somewhere in that yellow eyed jerk."

"Get up, idiot. You need to practice; you _have_ to be better than me." Isa stood instead of responding to Lea's determined words.

Lea sighed himself and stood, grabbing his Frisbees as he followed his morose friend into town. "I swear, I'll save you Isa. Get THAT memorized Saïx." Because Lea couldn't stand the the haunted shadows in his best friend's eyes that hadn't completely gone away since their trip to the future. Stopping in the middle of the road, Lea looked up at the sky - one of the stars up there was unusually bright, and without consciously deciding to speak, his mouth began to move. "Please... tell me that I can save Isa. Tell me that everything will work out."

As he walks into his house, Lea misses the very star he had spoken to gleam even brighter - and for a brief moment seemed to take the shape of a heart.

 **~Live It~**

Lea blinked as he looked around the white room; it looked familiar, but it wasn't until he saw the man standing in the corner with a mane of red spikes that he realized where he was. "Why am I back here?"

Axel looked up from the paper he was reading. "Hey." He sounded bitter about something.

"Dude, are you okay?"

The Nobody laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. "Just peachy. Given the fact that I can't seem to hold on to any of my friends."

"What happened to Roxas?!" Lea's eyes widened in concern for the blond he had met less than a week ago by his reckoning.

"He's gone." Axel responded shortly. "He left."

"What about X-" a strange static filled Lea's ears. "That stinks, man."

"Tell me about it. First Isa, now Roxas. At least Roxas hasn't tried to kill me yet."

Lea flinched at the reminder of Saïx. "I'm not giving up on Isa." The teen stated. "You can't either. Got it memorized?" Axel just sighed. "And don't count Roxas out just yet; he was WAY to attached to you to just leave for good."

"Easy for you to say..." Axel muttered, but he seemed a little happier.

"But..." the pyrotechnic man looked at his younger self as the boy's brow furrowed in confusion. "What am I doing back in the future?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, dude. As is why you're fading away like a ghost."

"WHAAAT?!" Lea glanced down, and sure enough, he could see through his body - and it was getting worse.

"Take it easy." Axel laughed slightly. "I still exist, so whatever this is isn't going to do any permanent damage."

"Comforting." The younger boy snarked, glancing up at Axel. His vision was starting to blur. "Well, see you when I see you. Don't give up on Isa, got it memorized?"

"Got it."

Lea's last sight was his Nobody smiling at him before everything went white.

 **~Live It~**

Lea blinked his eyes open and stared at the poster pinned to the ceiling above his bed. "Did I just dream all that? But it felt just as real as when Isa and I went there before..." Groaning, Lea rolled over and fell out of his bed. "Ouch!"

"What are you doing, loser?" Lea craned his neck around and looked at the boy standing in his doorway.

"Isa! Buddy! Think you can help me out here?" The redhead struggled against the blankets that had somehow trapped him.

"You're such a dork, Lea. How did you even end up like that?" Isa came over and started trying to make sense of the tangle of bedding.

"You know... that is a very good question." Isa rolled his eyes at Lea's response and tugged again on the blanket.

"Were you fighting someone? Jeez." The duo finally managed to get Lea free.

"No?" Lea hadn't meant to make that sound like a question, but he was still super confused by the conversation he had had in what was _apparently_ a dream. He shook his head, he would worry about that later. "Whatever, let's go!"

"...You still need to get dressed, hothead."

 **~Live It~**

He was in a library. It looked really familiar, but he couldn't tell you where he had seen it before to save his life. He couldn't be in The Castle That Never Was, because the white walls were more of a cream and the bookshelves were brown.

"Yo." Lea turned to see Axel leaning up against one of the shelves.

The teen frowned - there was something different about the man, but what? "I'm back? Again?"

"Yep. So, how long has it been for you?"

"I talked to you about Roxas leaving a couple days ago. How long ago was that for you?"

"A few months." Axel responded, a sad smile on his face.

"And... how did that all work out? Are you still friends with Roxas?"

"Not... exactly..." The pyro looked down. "Y'see. Rox was _special._ His Somebody still existed as a separate being - but that's even more unnatural than Nobodies already are. Sora is around somewhere... but Roxas... Roxas is just a memory now."

Lea's heart ached for his future self. "I...I'm sorry, Axel."

The man shook him off. "I can't focus on that right now... Rox made his choice... and then I made mine. And my choice seems to be working out... so maybe Roxas' will too." A grin appeared on his face. "Besides... I really don't understand how this library is filed. And Ien -" He pronounced it like ee-yen "- wants me to find some book about something-or-other to help him with his research... but why would he want ME to go get the book? He's the one who grew up in this stupid castle and knows his way around. Aeleus would be more help than I am."

"Ien? Castle? Aeleus? Where exactly are we, Axel?"

"Where?" Axel's grin became mischievous. "Why, the The Great Library of Radiant Garden of course. Got it memorized?" Axel tapped the side of his head.

"You're back in Radiant Garden?" The question Lea had just asked was quickly shunted aside as he finally realized what was different about Axel. "Hey! What happened to your tattoos?"

Axel laughed. "I was wondering when you would notice. The tattoos are gone."

"You know how much I want to ask."

"Yep." Axel popped the 'p' "But I can't just make it easy for you."

"Not even a hint?" Lea wheedled, causing Axel to laugh again.

"Just this; when you're fighting an endless hoard and there's a brown haired kid watching your back, don't be afraid to go all out. Got it Memorized?"

"...You're being deliberately cryptic."

"Yep."

"I hate you."

"I _am_ you."

Lea scowled. "Jerk." The library started blurring around the teen. "Looks like I'm leaving again. See you when I see you, Axel."

"See you when I see you." Axel responded. "And by the way... the name's Lea. Got it Memorized?"

Lea's jaw dropped as everything went white.

 **~Live It~**

"Lea? Leea? Leeeeaaaa?" Isa finally hit his friend over the head to get his attention.

"Huh? What?"

"Dude, where are you today? You keep spacing out."

Lea shifted. He _really_ didn't want to bring up Nobodies with Isa, but what his future self had said in that dream was driving him nuts. "Um... y'know Nobodies?" Isa glanced sharply at him. "Like... Axel and Roxas?" He purposefully didn't mention Saïx.

"What about them?" Isa's voice was tight and his eyes were shadowed.

"Can you think of any reason they'd take their old name again?"

Isa was quiet for awhile, but Lea couldn't quite tell if it was because he was brooding, or if he was actually considering the question. "Old names - original names - were for when they were human." the blue haired boy finally answered. "The only thing that would make sense... is if they were human again. Or considered themselves human once again. Why?"

"N-no reason." _The name's Lea. Got it Memorized?_

 _"Lea."_ Isa always could tell when Lea was lying to him.

"I've had these weird dreams... twice now. The first time I was standing in Axel's room in Castle Never Was. Last night I was in - what Axel said was - the Great Library."

"Radiant Garden's Great Library?"

"Yeah. I've only ever seen Axel - he talks to me - and last night he told me to call him Lea."

"Let me get this straight." Isa spoke slowly. "Not only did we accidentally send ourselves to nearly ten years in the future a week and a half ago, but now you're having dreams where you're going _back_ to that future and talking to your future self?"

"...That about sums it up, yeah. "

"And these dreams are real?"

"I don't know, man. I mean, they _feel_ real. But I don't have anything to back it up... I don't even know if I'm going to have another one or not..."

"Pretty thin thread." Isa commented and Lea glared at him. "But, let's assume for the moment that these dreams _are_ real, and the information you're getting is valid. If your future self requested that you call him Lea - knowing that that is the name you currently use - it isn't entirely impossible that he has somehow managed to return to a 'human' status. Beyond the completion of Kingdom Hearts, that possibility wasn't something we discussed with him in _our_ sojourn so I have no idea how such a thing would be done."

"Which is Isa Speak for... it's possible but you're not sure how?"

"Yes."

"Cool. Wonder if he kept his fire powers. And those epic chakram..."

"That's _all_ you're wondering about? Not how such a thing would be possible?"

"Not really. That's more of your thing. By the way... do we know anyone named Ien? Or Aeleus?"

"Aeleus is the redhead Guard that's always throwing us out." Isa answered. "I'm not sure about Ien, though."

"Wait. Ien... though?" Lea repeated. "Ien though... Ienthough... Ienthough... Ienzo! That apprentice kid!"

"Well, okay." Isa mused. "So we know that Axel is involved with two people that have large ties to the Castle... plus we know that it all started when we broke into the Castle..."

"You're probably getting a lot more out of this than I am."

"I'm just thinking that those two were probably Nobodies as well. Now that I think about it, that lance-wielder we saw looked a lot like the other Guard, Dilan."

"So... the Organization is made up of the apprentices and guards? And we just got mixed up in it the day we broke in?"

"That's what it's sounding like."

Lea laughed. "See, this is why you're the one who comes up with plans, Isa. You take a bunch of random information and come up with a working theory."

Isa just rolled his eyes. "C'mon. I'd rather not worry about this anymore."

"Fair enough."

 **~Live It~**

He knew instantly that something was wrong. The area he was in didn't look even remotely familiar, but what really caught his attention was his future self beating up some sort of training dummy with flaming chakrams. "Are... you okay?" The pyro turned.

For the first time in Lea's memory, the man wasn't in that black coat; this time he was wearing tan pants and black sneakers, a hooded vest was over a white tank top - the vest had dark red pockets, was dark grey up to his sternum and a matching hood, and pale orange around the shoulders and wrapping under his arms - the silver accessories of the Organization cloak had been transferred to the vest. All in all the outfit looked like a much cooler version of what Lea typically wore.

"I'm fine. It just finally sunk in..."

"What did? Axel?"

The man sighed. "My name is _Lea._ Not that anyone can remember to call me that."

"Well, most of the people around you now only ever knew you as Axel. Makes sense that they'd mess up. And as for me, it would get kind of confusing if we were _both_ Lea."

"Touche." The pyro acquiesced. "If you need to, you call call me Ria."

"So, you really are Lea again?"

"Yeah. But I'm still not going to tell you how it happened."

"Jerk. But seriously, what hadn't sunk in before?" Lea questioned and his older self sighed.

"I figured out what happened to Isa." Lea's eyes widened. "But I don't know if I can fix it..."

"What happened?"

"XEHANORT!" Ria yelled, suddenly angry, one of Eternal Flames igniting and slicing into the dummy. "Everything comes back to Xehanort! He's been playing _everyone_ from the word go!"

"Xehanort... as in that new apprentice dude?" Lea took the angry growl as confirmation. "Okay... wow."

"It's just that... the Xehanort you've seen every so often? Isn't even the real Xehanort. It's some poor kid that the real Xehanort got to and basically took over his body."

As soon as the idea of _possession_ had sunk in - seriously, what kind of Universe did they live in? Where something like that was even possible? - a terrible thought entered Lea's mind. "Is... is _that_ what happened to Isa?"

"Yes." His future self's admission made Lea want to cry.

"The yellow eyes?"

"Are the same as Xehanort's." he confirmed, slumping to sit on the ground with his arms resting on his knees. "Flames... I'd forgotten how much it _hurts_ to feel."

"But... we... you... can save him, can't you?"

"I don't know... I just don't know, Lea." he dropped his head to rest on his arms. "But we're sure as Darkness are going to try. Isa's not the only one who they want to save."

"That other kid?" Lea asked. "The one that I would recognize as Xehanort?"

"Bingo. Plus who knows how many others he's possessed against their will."

"You think there are _more_?" Lea gasped, two was bad enough.

"There are _twelve_ of him, mini-me." Ria informed him grimly, to Lea's horror. "And he very nearly succeeded in making Sora into his thirteenth. Who knows how many of them are unwilling vessels."

"Sora is Roxas' Somebody, yeah?"

"Yeah. He's not bad; but he definitely isn't Rox."

"So how long has it been since I saw you last?" Lea wanted to know.

"Not long." he was told. "A few days. You?"

"Almost a week. Man the timing doesn't want to match up."

The man laughed and nodded. "Thanks, man. I needed somebody to cheer me up."

"Glad I could help." Lea quipped, pushing aside all of his own reactions to what he had just learned. "By the way, love the new threads."

Ria grinned. "Thanks. The three Fairies worked it out for me; honestly I was surprised at how much it looked like my old stuff."

The world started to fade. "Promise me, Lea." The younger of the two pleaded. "Just one more time. Promise me that you'll never give up on Isa."

"I swear on Kingdom Hearts, Lea. I will do everything in my power to save Isa." A Keyblade appeared in his hand. "Everything."

"See you when I see you."

 **~Live It~**

Lea woke with a gasp. Half a second to figure out exactly where he was and everything he had learned came back to him. Tears started burning in his eyes.

"Enjoy your nap?" Isa quipped, then saw his friend's face. "Lea? What's wrong?"

"I-Isa?" The tears became more insistent and Lea resisted the urge to throw his arms around the other boy, instead turning away to try to collect himself.

"Lea. C'mon, talk to me." Isa encouraged, Lea was starting to worry him.

"I... I had another one of those dreams."

"Where you talk to Axel?"

"Lea. And, yeah." Lea confirmed. "Anyway... he figured out what happened... to... to you..."

"Okay..." Isa wondered if it was a good thing - seeing as Lea was fighting tears... he didn't think so. "And?"

"And we don't know if it can be fixed. You're not the only one it's happened to... but the only other known person that's been through it... it's been years... almost twelve by his point." Lea broke off. "We don't... we don't know... we don't know how... There's not enough information on it to know if it even _can_ be undone..."

Isa let the information sink in. "Lea." The redhead twitched in response and Isa laid his hand on Lea's shoulder. "If trying to save me puts you in danger. I don't want you to do it. I'm not worth it."

"Yes you are." Lea protested. "You're my best friend. And he's lost Roxas too..."

Isa didn't ask what had happened to Roxas. He didn't want to know. "Lea... just promise me that you'll be careful. If you saved me, but died doing it, it wouldn't be worth it. I'd probably just end up killing myself sooner or later."

That admission made Lea look at him again. "I'll promise this." He compromised. "I will do everything I can to make sure we _both_ make it out of this."

"I'll take it." Isa grinned, then put his arm around Lea. "C'mon, let's go get some Ice Cream."

 **~Live It~**

Lea glanced around; he was in some sort of sitting room, with a desk and a selection of couches and chairs. His older self was lounging on one such couch. "Hey mini-me!"

"Hi Ria." the younger greeted.

"I forgot I said you could call me that..." the man laughed, then winced slightly.

"Are you okay?" Lea suddenly realized that the white tank under Ria's vest had been replaced by white bandages wound around his torso. There were several spots of red on the fabric. "What happened?" The teen rushed over to the man.

"Claymore to the ribs. It was a little more than Healing Magic could fix. It's nothing, I'm fine."

Lea scoffed "That doesn't _sound_ like-"

"I really am sorry about that." A new voice spoke.

Lea froze, his jaw dropping. He knew that voice. "I-"

"If you apologize one more time, I'll hit you with my Keyblade." Ria threatened the newcomer and Lea finally managed to make himself turn around.

"...Isa..." The man in question smiled at him slightly.

His scars were still there, but they looked years old instead of only months like before, he wore khaki pants and a dark blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, a yellow crescent moon hung from a chain around his neck. And most importantly, familiar green eyes looked out from the familiar face.

"Hello, Lea."

"It works out..." the teen would have fallen to his knees if the man hadn't caught him and helped him sit down in a nearby chair. "You're back. It works out."

"We got Isa back." Ria confirmed, grinning. Then shifted into a more upright position. "And wasn't that a trip and a half."

"It all works out?"

"Things have a way of working out, Lea. Get it memorized."

"You're a Keyblade Bearer, beat Xehanort, got Isa back, and apparently nearly died doing it. Anything I'm missing?" Lea grinned giddily. "Wait until I tell Isa. I mean my Isa, past Isa."

"Call me Aiza, Lea. Just to keep things straight."

"And what makes you think we beat Xehanort?" Ria challenged, a smile on his face.

"Because Aiza's right here. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Xehanort wouldn't give up his puppets easily." Aiza flinched slightly at being called a puppet. "Plus you both seem far to relaxed for this to just be a reprieve."

"Ooohh. Big word Lea. Did Isa teach it to you?"

"Of course he did." Lea quipped back. "Where else would I have picked up a useless word like that?"

"The fact that you just used it proves that's it's not useless." Aiza pointed out and both Leas stuck their tongue out at him.

"Luna's Light... you really haven't changed at all."

"Not where it matters." Ria confirmed with a laugh while Lea fought to keep himself from pouting.

"...I don't collect cute things." Aiza announced randomly, a faint glare on his face.

"Never to late to start." Ria and Lea quipped in unison.

"Speaking of..." Lea mused, "where is Roxas? And did we ever figure out where Ventus was?"

This time both Ria and Aiza were smirking at him. "We can't just tell you." Aiza scolded.

"That would take all the fun out of it." Ria continued.

"Then why are you telling me this? Showing me that we get Isa back, that you get your Hearts back, that -"

Ria's smile softened. "You're the one who wished on a star." Lea's eyes widened in shock. "You asked to know that everything would be alright."

"Well, now you know." Aiza finished with his own smile. "Everything else you'll just have to wait for."

A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Lea. "How do I know that this all isn't just some crazy dream? How do I know that this is what really happens?"

"You don't." Ria shrugged. "You'll just have to live it - and find out."

It was time for Lea to go again, the room was already fading.

"Lea." Aiza spoke suddenly. "Give my younger self a message for me, will you?"

"Anything."

"Tell him that the sparks are the hardest thing to put out. And that a single spark can start the largest fire."

"Okay...?" Lea frowned in confusion and Aiza laughed.

"He'll understand when it's time."

"See you when I see you." Ria's words were the last thing Lea heard before everything faded away.

 **~Live It~**

Lea raced through the streets of Radiant Garden towards Isa's house and pounded on the door once he got there. "Isa!"

"What do you want Lea?" Isa grumbled as he opened the door. It was too early to deal with his hyperactive friend yet. "This better be-" He was cut off as Lea threw his arms around him. "Lea?"

"It's okay." Lea mumbled into Isa's shoulder. "We're okay. It all works out."

"Lea... you're not making any sense." Isa pried the redhead off his neck. "What are you talking about?"

"I had another one of those dreams." Lea told him. "And you've got to hear about it."

"Alright... alright..." Isa sighed, even as his curiosity piqued. "Lets go to the Wall."

Soon the duo were sitting on the outer wall of the Main City, it dropped off on the far side, stretching out in a flat plain towards the horizon. "Alright. What's this all about, Lea?"

Lea told Isa about the sitting room, Ria's injury, and Aiza walking into the room. "...I almost passed out when I realized that it really was you. Him."

Isa had lowered his head to hide his face while Lea told his story. Ria was injured, but Aiza was himself again, and Ria would recover in time. "It works out...?"

"Things have a way of doing that." Lea answered, echoing Ria. "Get it memorized."

Isa looked up, a minute smile on his face. "I'm glad. Glad they're - we're - both okay."

"Oh yeah!" Lea remembered suddenly. "Aiza told me to give you a message."

"Yeah?"

"He said - " _The sparks are the hardest thing to put out. And a single spark can start the largest fire."_ He said that you would understand when you needed to."

Isa frowned; the words didn't make any sense right now but he filed them away, his future self wanted him to remember it, after all. "Say, Lea?"

"Hn?"

"How do we know that it will really work out that way?"

"I asked the same thing." Lea laughed. "And y'know what Ria told me?"

"What?"

"He said we'd just have to live it. Live it - and find out." Isa found himself grinning at the wise words. "Besides, what I really asked for was hope; and now we have it."

"I guess that's true." Isa agreed, though he didn't quite understand what Lea meant about him _asking_ for hope. "Thank you, Lea."

"That's what friends are for, Isa. Get it memorized."

The two teens laughed as the sun rose over Radiant Garden. Secure in the knowledge that they had quite an adventure awaiting them in the upcoming years - but even more secure by knowing that, no matter what happens, things always have a way of working out in the end.

* * *

 **My knowledge Days is a little shaky, so I didn't go into WHY Roxas left, because I didn't want to get it wrong. And poor Xion; not even the time travelers can remember her!**

 **The names I use for the Recompleted Axel and** **Saïx** **(Ria and Aiza) are the Japanese pronunciations/spellings of their names. I didn't want to still call them Axel and Saïx after Lea spends so much time in DDD telling people his name isn't Axel, but at the same time, two Leas and two Isas would get really confusing really fast.**

 **Ria's new clothes were taken from an image I saw online where someone designed what they wanted him to look like in III, changed just a little bit because I thought it looked a little TOO much like the old Lea's outfit. Aiza's I kind of just made up after looking at AU pictures of him.**

 **And then, of course, the scene where everything works out is completely made up. Because no one knows yet how it's all going to turn out - I don't even know for sure how I want the whole Isa/** **Saïx and Terra/Terranort thing to work out. Though I kind of hope they all live happily ever after.**

 **Wow... This is probably the longest Author's Note I've ever written... well, see ya'll around!**

 *****Wayfinder*****


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